1927 BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION " THE FAIR OF THE IRON HORSE" MD52124

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In 1927, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad sponsored a pageant commemorating the 100th anniversary of its founding and, in effect, the steam locomotive’s 100th year. At the time, the B&O published a booklet giving the history of the road and issued a silent motion picture. This is a slightly modified version which appears today much as it did when originally presented in the months following the close of the pageant on October 16, 1927. The celebration was held at Halethorpe, near Baltimore, from September 24 to October 16 and was called - The Fair of the Iron Horse. Cars enter The Fair of the Iron Horse 1:45. During the three weeks of the pageant, 136,000 automobiles, 13,000 on a single day, were parked under the direction of the company’s own police force. Views of the packed parking lot 2:16. Nearly 400,000 people reach the fairgrounds on Baltimore and Ohio trains. Man works at teletype 2:27. The train pulls into the station 2:34. The opening day, September 24, was Maryland day. Hon. Albert C. Ritchie, governor of Maryland arrives. Pres. Willard now greeted the multitude on behalf of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and introduced Gov. Ritchie. Gov. Ritchie makes a brief commemorative address 3:28. The pageant begins at exactly 2:15. This record for punctuality was maintained throughout the fair. The history of inland transportation now passed in review before the audience. First came American Indians of the Blackfeet nation 3:48. The Blackfeet ride horses around the fair 4:03. The Blackfeet display the slow methods of transportation used in the past 4:35. Bulls pull wagons 5:05. Pere Marquette, famous missionary and explorer, appears in the act of blessing the Mississippi River 5:09. Early River transportation floats 5:28. Wagon trains 5:40. Ezra Meeker, drove the Oregon Trail in 1852, at 98 was at home behind a yoke of oxen 5:55. Young people enjoyed the trail ride 6:15. Mule pulled covered wagons 6:22. The coach, “Kearsarge”, was loaned by Henry Ford 6:32. Stagecoaches were the “Pullmans” of the early “pikes” 6:43. The General Washington Inn 6:55. Henry Clay, promoter of the national Road is represented in period coach 7:42. Mr. Fred Stone presents the “Concord” coach, 7:42. Conestoga wagon built in 1813 8:05. February 1827 merchants meet at the home of George Brown 8:40. The merchants say, “we will build a railroad, and name it ‘The Baltimore and Ohio.’” July 4, 1828 - the laying of “The First Stone”. Engineers survey the line 9:48. Prof. S. F.B. Morse sends first telegraph. “What hath God wrought!” 9:54. Civil War looms and Lincoln arrives in Washington over the B&O 10:40. Horses pull train cars 11:00. Ellicott’s Mills 11:18. 1829, Peter Cooper builds “Tom Thumb” First American built, steam locomotive 12:05. Phineas Davis builds the “York” in 1831 13:02. In 1832 the “Atlantic” joins the B&O 13:47. Double-decker railcars 14:24. The “Thomas Jefferson” appears in 1835 15:00. The “Lafayette” came in 1837, renamed the “William Galloway” with horizontal boiler 15:14. The “Memnon: in 1848 his first passenger type locomotive with rocking grate 15:51. The pony express 16:25. 1856 - The “William Mason” 16:39. The “Thatcher Perkins” 17:03. Ross Winan’s “Camelback”, 1873 17:17. The “J. C. Davis,” 1875 built at Mount Clare Shop 17:43. 1888, The “Consolidation” and “A.J. Cromwell” 18:00. Model of No. 1 Electric built in 1895 18:25. The “1310” and “Royal Blue” in 1896. Mallet locomotive, “John E. Muhlfeld” 19;05. The “Mother of Railways”, the float “Britannia” and the “Rocket” by George Stephenson 19:30. The “King George V” courtesy, Sir Felix J.C. Pole. Canadian National Railways send “Confederation” 20:22. Locomotive No. 2333. The “DeWitt Clinton” from the Mohawk & Hudson 21:05. “John Bull” from Smithsonian 21:43. 1861, the “William Crooks” 22:07. The Twentieth Century limited 22:24. Railside pickups in motor coaches 23:06. “John B. Jervis” and President L.F. Loree of Delaware and Hudson. The Mikado weighs 160 tons 24:30. The “Santa Fe” designed in 1926 24:43. 1926, the “Philip E. Thomas” 25:02. The “President Washington” pulling the “Capitol Limited” 26:11. As the pageant ended, the age of steam was nearing its close. The beginning of the diesel revolution was less than a decade away, and in 25 years the steam locomotive would have all but vanished from the rails of the nation’s principal railroads.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com

[@echoecho3108]

Wow. This is fantastic. Wish I could have seen those magnificent beasts, and gone to this Fair. However, since my mom and dad were only one-year-olds at the time, that's a No. My granddad retired from C&O at Union Station in DC. I love trains. I miss them. Thanx so very much for sharing this little treasure.

[@BrassLock]

Unliky to ever see such a Celebration of Engineering ever again in _moving format._ Amazing collection of functioning engines. Remarkable movie showing developmental sequence. Great upload, thank you!

[@louislamonte334]

A magnificent event with incredible motive power! How I wish I could have attended! A thoroughly excellent tribute to American railroads at one of their peaks!!!

[@rms492]

This is beyond amazing. Why cant things like this be done anymore?

[@DOLRED]

Thanks! At 22:21 , the movie references the new "New York Central Engine." It was the 4-6-4 Hudson which rail fans claim was the finest US Steam Engine ever made, even for looks. Not one of these survived the scrap yard and none were thus saved by the NYCRR, Sad.

[@rogerlollar4325]

Yes very sad Perlman was not an understanding ceo

[@CrossOfBayonne]

​@rogerlollar4325 Actually he did it out to keep the company afloat because the NYC was in very bad shape in the 50s

[@kristoffermangila]

Understandable, but this action by Perlman didn't endear him to steam preservationists and set him up to become the subject of memes by individuals like #HistoryInTheDark. But we can take a little solace in the fact that Canadian Pacific #2816 is a distant relative to those NYC Hudsons, since it was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works, Alco's Canadian subsidiary.

[@earlt.7573]

Thank you for sharing this footage. I've read about the 1927 expo, but this is the first time I've seen actual film of the event. Amazing. They did a great job showing all the early examples of locomotives, and having the participants in period correct clothing for the eras presented was very well done.

[@theOlLineRebel]

My dad was very happy as a member of B&O Museum to help restore and repaint the Pres. Washington, back in the day. Nice to see it working.

[@practicing1]

thanks, thats impressive view of development, maybe very useful in perspective at least

[@carlyeiter9263]

Vintage historic actual trains of the past with pageantry that today would cost millions just to view for a week. But the B&O Railroad Museum is one really magical reality of the past kept up well now in the 21st century. Thanks for sharing this treasured film. 10+ star review. WOW!!!!!!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks very much! Glad you appreciate it!

[@Arakal421]

Any other fans of the Memnon here?

[@toomanyuserids]

Great film but the music doesn't fit at all.

[@jonmacdonald5345]

You could have just played Cardi Bs WAP over it and been satisfied!

[@echoecho3108]

I thought it was haunting, and fitting, since many of these magnificent beasts are only ghosts now.

[@NewController01]

Is this considered the only known footage of GWR 6000 "King George V" in GWR livery?

[@kristoffermangila]

Looks like it is, unless there's some amateur film of this locomotive wearing this livery in some dusty attic in the UK...

[@stevendalbor9495]

Very cool film. Must have been impressive as anything for people back then. Wish the window burns were in a different place, or had been omitted, but ah well. Good job anyway.

[@charlesvanorsdale3121]

Is this part of a DVD collection, available for purchase?

[@PeriscopeFilm]

No. But you can watch for free on KZbin!

[@hirampriggott1689]

The music sounds like Brian Eno.

[@57629589]

Do most of those early locomotives survive?

[@Wailwulf]

They seem to still exist. The tree I looked up did

[@practicing1]

some in UK do

[@theOlLineRebel]

Most do, I believe. Some were destroyed in the 2003 snowstorm that destroyed the roundhouse. (That was before the planned similar fair, that same year, so put the kibosh on having such.)

[@HardworkDedication]

Another example of the need for CRT how Black Americans are written out of history. The slave labor used for building these railroads is still not acknowledged let alone compensated.

[@theOlLineRebel]

Really? How much was actually slaves building the B&O? Not much. Sorry for your not being able to inject your racial whining into everything. And Communist Race Theory (That's "Critical Theory", in genuine communism) can go to hell, as it already is.

[@athopi]

USELESS! The counter blocks views of the wheels. Why add that? Pfft!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Not useless. Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes. In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous KZbin users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do. Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.